Diablo III: Reaper of Soulshttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/default.aspxen-USTelligent Community 1.5.134.12297 (Build: 5.5.134.12297)Blog Post: (Ultimate) Evil Returns and is Finally Fun Againhttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/user_reviews/archive/2014/10/20/ultimate-evil-returns-and-is-finally-fun-again.aspxMon, 20 Oct 2014 15:24:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:7026209The Duchess<p><span>What started out as a boring, arcade-esque game when first released has turned into an enjoyable, loot grabbing adventure. For those of you who were disappointed with the original release, the expansion, &quot;Reaper of Souls&quot; gives us a new class and Blizzard also rolled out a &quot;Loot 2.0&quot; system as part of the update (it was a free update, expansion wasn&#39;t required). Finally you have a multitude of worthwhile items to collect and use. This simple change completely turned the game around (along with other patch improvements). With the Ultimate Evil Edition, we have the expansion plus the base game, meaning 6 classes, 5 Acts, and several new modes (including a feature exclusive to consoles currently).</span><br /><br /><span>Controls: For PS4, the game fully utilizes all buttons on the gamepad. As you level up, you&#39;ll unlock new skills which will be assigned to the different buttons (until all are being utilized). So much, in fact, that at times I&#39;ve forgotten to use some of my skills in chaotic battles. The left stick moves you and the right stick has you doing a slow dodge. I&#39;ve personally not found much use of dodge, as enemies seem to hit me anyway, but I just have them roll around for fun or to break breakables. The menu takes a little getting used to, as it&#39;s on a radial-dial where you scroll through your various equipment locations (e.g. head, body, hands, rings). Once you get used to it, it doesn&#39;t really take too much time, but if you&#39;re playing with others you may have to wait for them to finish. You can also mark items as &quot;junk&quot; to sell with a click of a button. I found myself not using this feature, though it is there. When an item drops and you pick it up, you also have the ability to quickly equip or mark as junk. Once picked up, 3 categories with green up arrows (meaning better stats) or red down arrows (for lesser stats) will show on the screen. I never use this feature, as there are a lot of nuances with gear and I&#39;d prefer to look at them one by one.</span><br /><br /><span>Gameplay: The basic premise of the game, for those unfamiliar, is run through each location killing all enemies you see using a variety of powers. Said enemies drop items, collectively known as &quot;loot&quot;, upon dying which make your character stronger. This is the addictive cycle of the Diablo games - collect loot, level up, get new skills, kill more enemies with different skills, repeat.</span><br /><br /><span>The maps are well put together, but unlike the previous entry, the maps have randomized elements, but aren&#39;t truly randomized. That is probably one of the biggest flaws in my opinion, as the changing maps gave the previous Diablo infinite replayability and that feeling of discovery. Once I visited an area, I knew exactly where the important stuff (and boundaries) would be any time I went through again.</span><br /><br /><span>You have several classes to choose from: the hardy and furious Barbarian, the stoic and martial Monk, the dark, ranged Demon Hunter, the primitive and controlling Shaman, and the studious and magical Wizard from the base game, plus the stalwart and strong Crusader from the expansion (and my personal favorite). Every class has a male and female variant. You have access to unique skills and &quot;rune&quot; slots, which unlock at specific levels and customize each base skill. For instance, the Wizard has a beam attack that can be changed into split beams with a rune, or to have a shorter but wider beam for close attacks. It allows for flexibility and different builds, but you can&#39;t switch it on the fly. Unlike previous games, you can&#39;t create a Warrior Wizard who wades into combat swinging a sword, the Barbarian can&#39;t used ranged weapons, and the Demon Hunter is restricted to ranged only, considering all their skills required a ranged weapon. This is one of the biggest flaws of the game, in my opinion, coming from Diablo 2. I wanted to use the Demon Hunter as a shadow stalker, dual wielding knives or swords. Sadly, you do not have a choice in this and have to play each class as Blizzard wants.</span><br /><br /><span>I haven&#39;t dove into Adventure Mode or Bounties as of this time, but after finishing the game you can go back and complete various objectives for rewards of items and experience.</span><br /><br /><span>Another feature is that if elite enemy kills a friend of yours, they become more powerful and can invade your game as well. The more people who perish at the hands of this foe, the stronger they become but the greater the rewards are.</span><br /><br /><span>One of the great advantages of the console version is couch co-op play! If you don&#39;t have a friend to join, you can find matches to join online as well. There is an &quot;arena&quot; for Player vs Player combat, but otherwise you won&#39;t have to worry about someone invading your game wanting to kill you or otherwise ruin your game.</span><br /><br /><span>Graphics: The character models are not very pretty. Once in game, everything looks nice, with great particle effects and lighting (though I feel like almost everything looks rounded). Enemies heads can explode or be removed from their body (watching it fly through the air), zombies whose upper and lower half separate, only to have their upper half crawl towards you, and many other great animations and effects are present. The game is zoomed out enough that the minor details that would look really low resolution up close appear fine. The cutscenes are all top notch and beautiful, and each chapter introduction starts with story book like drawing/animation.</span><br /><br /><span>People complained that the graphics were too &quot;light&quot; or &quot;happy&quot;, and while it&#39;s not as dark and gray as Diablo 2, it&#39;s still plenty dark and bloody. The usual dark shadows are replaced by low, blue lights instead. Grass is greener, water is bluer, sure, but these do not detract from the dark tone, with different areas having plenty of corpses lying about or torturing devices swinging from the ceiling.</span><br /><span>0</span><br /><span>Sound: The effects are great and each enemy makes different noises to set them apart. The goatmen bleat as they charge you, zombies moan, ghosts make this swishy like sound. The music fits the theme and mood well, with familiar style permeating each area. I have no complaints with sound design.</span><br /><br /><span>Story: A star has fallen and you go to investigate. From there, you&#39;ll meet faces familiar and new and uncover the secret of a growing terror. For what the game is, the story is good, but nothing new. Depending on how close you pay attention, you can probably see each plot twist or reveal coming. The final act didn&#39;t leave me breathless, but it was more of a shrug and accepted that everything just happened. It&#39;s Diablo, bad things happen because of powerful evil beings.</span><br /><br /><span>Online: Co-op is there in all it&#39;s glory, so invite a friend (or 3) and destroy the enemies of good. The difficulty scales up as does the rewards. You can gift or trade items you find as well. I also already mentioned the elite enemy who kills your friend may find his way into your game looking to finish you off as well. There is matchmaking for those who want to play with others but have no friends or have no friends available.</span><br /><br /><span>--------------------</span><br /><span>Overall: 4/5 - With the Loot 2.0 system, it&#39;s fun to go out and slay monsters and power up your character. The gameplay is solid and addictive, but not incorporating randomly generated maps and not allowing for full customization for characters is a step back. This is technically the expansion with the base game included for free, but it&#39;s a great arcade-like action/RPG that will satiate a need to hunt for loot and slay powerful enemies - especially with friends (online or off).</span><br /><span>--------------------</span><br /><span>Gameplay: Lots of skills to unlock, plenty of enemies to defeat, and more loot than you hold creates an exciting and addictive experience. Removing random maps and shoehorning classes into very specific roles feels like a huge step back and gives you less control over a character&#39;s development and more of &quot;this is what Blizzard created and wants me to do&quot;.</span><br /><br /><span>Controls: So many skills! So many buttons! It&#39;s easy to aim, shoot, use skills, run, and everything else you need to do. The menu system takes some getting used to, but isn&#39;t too bad once you&#39;ve experienced it for awhile.</span><br /><br /><span>Graphics: Zooming out means they can use lower resolutions, but anything close up looks muddy and out of the last generation era (maybe even farther back). Particle effects and character animations are fantastic and fluid. While the textures may be low quality, the rest of the game looks very fluid and nice. Even if it&#39;s too &quot;bright&quot; for some.</span><br /><br /><span>Sound: Satisfying death throes and enemy war cries echo around you. The music fits perfectly and helps set the mood/theme in every location.</span><br /><br /><span>Online: Fantastic Co-Op game play! Those who prefer PvP will find less love, and griefers will want to find another game entirely.</span></p>Blog Post: Little Tweaks Make For Big Funhttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/playstation4/archive/2014/08/14/diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-ultimate-evil-edition-review-game-informer.aspxThu, 14 Aug 2014 22:35:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6946462Matt Miller<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/blizzard/diabloiii/ultimateevil/shock610.jpg" border="0" style="max-width:610px;" alt="" /></p> <p>Two years is a long time in video games, and it&rsquo;s rare that a release so far out from its original incarnation can generate excitement. However, Blizzard&rsquo;s constant improvements and adjustments have led to a stellar port to new-gen consoles, including the complete experience available on PC, plus several smart bonus features. It&rsquo;s an ideal way to play the game for the first time or the tenth, especially if you have any mix of friends to play with, either on your couch or across the country.&nbsp;</p> <p>The richly imagined world of Diablo III is a visual treat, and hits all the requisite buttons for epic fantasy world building, but the clich&eacute;d and predictable story isn&rsquo;t what keeps you hooked. That honor goes to the finely tuned character progression and loot system. Months of tweaking have resulted in the fastest-paced leveling and equipment gathering yet.&nbsp;</p> <p>A new apprentice mode is the most meaningful addition, pulling the stats of low-level players up to a competitive tier with their buddies, and then making the monster fights appropriately challenging for the newly powered group. Apprentice mode eliminates the frustration of players out-leveling each other, and lets the apprentice fly through those lower tiers of play.&nbsp;</p> <p>Drop rates (especially for coveted legendary items) are notably elevated, and most pick-ups are targeted to the needs of your class. In addition, a clever gifting system adds a satisfying new social wrinkle; upon acquiring a piece of legendary gear, you sometimes also acquire a gift item targeted to someone on your friends list. You can send it through the in-game mail as a pleasant surprise that benefits the whole group the next time you play.&nbsp;</p> <p>As you wander, the controller may shake as a nemesis approaches. This towering evil has already killed one of your fellows, and has powered up before hopping across friends lists to arrive in your game. If he kills you, the beast heads off to torment another of your buddies. Kill him, and everyone involved in the fight gets commensurate rewards. The nemesis system is another indication of Blizzard&rsquo;s commitment to social engagement, and adds a small but meaningful twist to gameplay.&nbsp;</p> <p>[View:1510572983001]</p> <p>The Ultimate Evil Edition includes both the base game and the expansion, which makes it an exceptional value for fledgling players. While the addition of a single new act and character class in Reaper of Souls is relatively modest in scope, the real value in the expansion comes from adventure mode. This endless experience throws high-density monster groups at you in surprising new configurations, and demands you take out bounty targets to receive big XP and material rewards. After completing the story, it&rsquo;s my preferred way to develop my main characters&rsquo; post level-cap paragon levels, as well as build up new alts into the fight. That&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;m bummed that Blizzard opted to keep adventure mode locked until a character completes the storyline. Players coming over from PC would have liked to jump right into the best version of the action, but must instead push through the slower-paced story again.&nbsp;</p> <p>The new-gen versions of the Ultimate Evil Edition look phenomenal, with a level of polish in the flashing magical effects and grim backgrounds that approaches high-end PC quality. Control-wise, direct control over your hero with the left stick simply feels more engaging than endlessly pointing and clicking. Moreover, the console-exclusive right stick dodge is a solid way to get out of danger fast, and a welcome use of the available inputs.&nbsp;</p> <p>However, the other major playability adjustment on console doesn&rsquo;t fare as well. Inventory management and vendor interactions are handled on a radial menu. It&rsquo;s functional, but more than a little clunky when trying to compare multiple items or switch between categories quickly. Given that loot management is so central to the experience, it&rsquo;s too bad this system feels subpar. In this regard, the PC version and its mouse-click options remain superior.&nbsp;</p> <p>The complete Diablo III experience is enjoyable played solo, but by allowing a combination of online and local cooperative play for up to four players and adding some fun new social tools, Blizzard has made this the cooperative game to beat on new-gen consoles. No matter your experience level with the game, this is an excellent time to dive in to the action.</p> <p><i>We reviewed the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the Ultimate Evil Edition. The game is also available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.</i></p>Blog Post: Adventure Mode And You: Getting The Most Out Of Reaper of Soulshttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/pc/archive/2014/03/27/adventure-mode-and-you-getting-the-most-out-of-reaper-of-souls.aspxThu, 27 Mar 2014 20:54:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6709214Daniel Tack<p><img style="max-width:610px;" src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/screenshots/DiabloIIIReaperofSouls/d3adventure610.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></p> <p>Diablo III&rsquo;s Reaper of Souls expansion brings a lot to the table with Adventure mode, bounties, and Rifts. Here are some tips to get started on the road to level 70 and beyond.[Excerpt]</p> <p><b>Building a New Character</b></p> <p>If you&rsquo;re starting a new character, it might be best to complete act 5 first on an old one if you have it. This will allow you to go directly to Adventure mode on your new character and start earning blood shards and Rift keys, which you can store safely to use at max level. It will also let you grab a level 60+ red gem for your new character&rsquo;s helmet, which will give you a significant experience boost during the leveling process. Regardless of your current access to high level gems, make sure you&rsquo;re moving through the leveling process with a red gem in your helmet as soon as you can.</p> <p><b>Blood Shards and Bounties</b></p> <p>Blood shards are a new currency that you&rsquo;ll receive for completing bounties and from Rift bosses. Currently the only thing these can be used for is gambling with Kadala. While your chances of getting a legendary via this method are slim, it can happen. Think of them as free shots at gear and not a real way to gain loot. Up to 500 can be stored at a time.</p> <p>Have friends? You may want to get some! Bounties are a perfectly fine way to progress solo, but taking a group of friends into a game on Normal difficulty and splitting up across acts will currently allow you to collect bounty loot bags and completions faster. Send one friend to act 1, one to act 2, one to act 3 and you&rsquo;ll all get the associated cache at the end of each clear. While the enemies will be tougher because of the additional players in the game, you&rsquo;re playing on Normal to handle that.</p> <p>Here&rsquo;s something you may not know - There are specific legendary items tied to the bounty bags in each act, so if you&rsquo;re looking for something specific you can focus your farming efforts. There&rsquo;s a handy list here <a href="http://www.diablohub.com/database/sorting/bounty-bags">http://www.diablohub.com/database/sorting/bounty-bags</a></p> <p><b>Rifts, Crafting, and More</b></p> <p>So what&rsquo;s the deal with Rifts? They may feel a little sluggish for a solo player because there are tons of enemies in each to work through, but they shine in a group setting. If you&rsquo;re grouping you&rsquo;ll get a lot more efficiency from your entry fees, and additional magic find. Round up and slaughter massive amounts of elite packs and bosses, you&rsquo;ll end up with tons of crafting materials, gems, and loot. Completing Rifts used to award players with a big bag of loot &ndash; These have simply been baked into the final boss now, so be sure to grab all the goodies.&nbsp;</p> <p>Here&rsquo;s another incentive to hit up Adventures, even if you don&rsquo;t plan on doing bounties. Adventure mode allows you to teleport to any zone without waypoints, so it&rsquo;s an excellent way to get to and farm specific enemies and bosses. Why would you want to do this? Legendary recipes in Reaper of Souls require components that only drop off certain enemies. For example, Maghda&rsquo;s Tortured Soul only drops off Maghda, so if you&rsquo;re looking to make the Cain&rsquo;s Destiny set you&rsquo;ll need to do some Maghda farming. The Mystic is a great addition to the NPC roster and will allow you to reroll various stats on items to make them perfect for your build. Be aware that this process is quite expensive on level 70 legendary gear, so make sure you have an item you&rsquo;ll be sticking with for a while before proceeding.</p> <p>Have fun and look great doing it &ndash; You can now transmogrify at the Mystic in town so you&rsquo;ll be able to use the graphics from your coolest legendary finds forever.</p> <div></div>Wiki: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Guideshttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/w/guides/default.aspxThu, 27 Mar 2014 02:31:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:2665AnonymousGuides for Diablo III: Reaper of SoulsForum Post: Soooo......is this the new king?http://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/f/120587/p/3799001/6707972.aspx#6707972Thu, 27 Mar 2014 01:41:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6707972SUB-0<p>So with this new expansion, is this better than PoE or Torchlight 2, is there really a reason to comeback?</p>Blog Post: To Hell And Back Againhttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/pc/archive/2014/03/26/reaper-of-souls-review.aspxWed, 26 Mar 2014 19:51:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6707299Daniel Tack<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/screenshots/DiabloIIIReaperofSouls/D3ROS610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p> <p>Diablo III&rsquo;s Reaper of Souls expansion is one of the most significant turnarounds in gaming. Out of the ashes of a boring, auction house-centric grind comes a dynamic and addictive system that encourages grouping and rewards players with continual upgrades and challenges. Almost every facet that players rightly attacked in the original game has been refined and revamped, transforming the title into an enjoyable action/RPG experience.[Excerpt]</p> <p>The new Crusader class, abilities, levels, act, and final boss are only the surface-level selling points of Reaper of Souls. If you&rsquo;re expecting a scintillating story to go along with the new content, don&rsquo;t. It&rsquo;s the same hackneyed fare that&rsquo;s almost comical at this point. Based on the time I spent leveling a Crusader to 70, fans of Diablo II&rsquo;s Paladin will find plenty of hammer-hurling holy fun. Act 5 has more content than other acts &ndash; including many optional areas &ndash; but pushing through it doesn&rsquo;t take long. The new final boss fight is slightly more difficult than the iconic red villain of the franchise, but it&rsquo;s nothing particularly special or interesting.</p> <p>They are nothing compared to the massive replayability and dynamic-dungeon delving that bounties, rifts, and Adventure mode (unlocked by completing act 5) provide. The real revolution comes not with any completely new content, but with the way recycling content is handled.&nbsp;</p> <p>Adventure mode breaks things up to keep the game fresh. Players have always been able to plod linearly through areas and acts, but Adventure mode breaks up content into manageable slices and provides additional rewards. Instead of moving from point A to B to C ad nauseam, players are presented with varied tasks in each act that can be completed in any order to unlock treasure caches and items to access the Nephalem Rifts.&nbsp;</p> <p>The loot-centric action/RPG is always going to be battling against repetition and tedium, and these methods of serving up gameplay are most welcome. Players with a few minutes can crank out some bounties, while players with a more time can jump in with friends and tear into Rifts. Once I moved on to these experiences, I didn&rsquo;t look back to the main campaign for gameplay.</p> <p>[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juT-1ew-ffc:610:343]</p> <p>Rifts are randomized areas that can have a variety of monster types and tilesets from throughout the game, and are loaded with elite mobs and bosses. Rifts are &ldquo;the endgame,&rdquo; and while they can be completed solo, they shine in a group setting. When the monster-kill meter inside the Rift is full, the boss spawns and players bring it down for a glut of loot, gold, and experience. Rifts can take a while to complete as solo player, and are at their best with a group of three or four. Playing with a team increases your magic find, and you are able to take on harder difficulties for additional chances at legendary drops. Players can even trade gear for a limited time, so if you don&rsquo;t need a particular legendary, you can pass it on to a friend. You need to farm items to access these Rifts, and since one entry fee can get a whole group inside, teaming up reduces the hassle for everyone.&nbsp;</p> <p>I&rsquo;ve completed 100 bounties and a handful of Torment 1 difficulty Rift runs with friends, and they are more interesting and rewarding than anything in the core game.</p> <p>Many changes that went live recently are integral to the Reaper of Souls experience. With the Loot 2.0 and paragon level changes, players find their inventories overflowing with usable gear, so making builds designed around certain abilities is easier. Paragon leveling provides small bonuses like health, move speed, and stats to let players continue to grow forever after the level cap. The bonuses from each paragon level are small, but they add up and bring an element to the game that lets players continue to progress outside of the gear grind. In the core version of Diablo III, a player could go months without finding a legendary item &ndash; or be forced to purchase gear from the auction house to advance. The orange glow is still special, but now you see it regularly during gameplay.</p> <p>Along with all the new loot, players have access to more options involving that loot. Crafting has been redone, and you can track down a plethora of legendary recipes. These special recipes require specific components that drop off rare monsters. You acquire some of these naturally if you choose to engage in Adventure mode, as the missions often involve tracking down these named spawns. During Act 5, players unlock the Mystic NPC. Did that awesome item drop but it had a stat that didn&rsquo;t mesh well with your build? The Mystic allows players to reroll certain item characteristics, providing a new optimization route and resource sink.</p> <p>With a staggering revamp that touched upon almost all aspects of the game and modes that keep things interesting, Reaper of Souls isn&rsquo;t so much an expansion as it is a completely new game.</p> <div></div>Blog Post: Listen To A Sample Music Track From The Upcoming Diablo III: Reaper Of Soulshttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/playstation4/archive/2014/03/09/listen-to-a-sample-music-track-from-the-upcoming-diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls.aspxSun, 09 Mar 2014 21:42:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6653783Kyle Hilliard<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/blizzard/diabloiii/ps4/diablomusictrack_610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p> <p>Ahead of Blizzard&#39;s plan March 25 release date for its upcoming Diablo III expansion, Reaper of Souls, it has released one of the game&#39;s music tracks.[Excerpt]</p> <p><a target="_blank" href="https://soundcloud.com/playdiablo/diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-1">You can head here to listen to the track now</a>. It&#39;s the music you will hear in the Blood Marsh, a new area you will be exploring in the the Diablo III expansion later this month. It&#39;s, &quot;An unforgiving mire with an unnatural complexion,&quot; <a target="_blank" href="http://us.battle.net//d3/en/blog/13154927">according to the post on Battle.net</a> sharing the track.</p> <p>It&#39;s about five minutes long, but even at it&#39;s fairly long length, Blizzard says this is only a small sampling of what to expect. You&#39;ll also find a Q and A with Diablo III&#39;s music director Derek Duke on the Battle.net post, where he admits to lighting candles and turning down the lights in order to play Diablo.</p> <p>For more on Reaper of Souls, <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/12/19/diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-out-march-25-2014.aspx">head here</a> and <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/themes/blogs/generic/post.aspx?WeblogApp=playstation4&amp;y=2013&amp;m=11&amp;d=09&amp;WeblogPostName=sony-details-diablo-iii-39-s-ps4-additions-and-reaper-of-souls&amp;GroupKeys=games/diablo_iii/">here</a>. By pre-ordering Reaper of Souls, <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/02/24/score-some-loot-when-you-pre_2d00_order-diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls.aspx">you will get some extra loot</a>, and there are opportunities to <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/03/04/diablo-iii-players-get-xp-boost-ahead-of-reaper-of-souls-release.aspx">get some extra experience</a> ahead of the expansion&#39;s release, as well.</p> <p><i>[Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://us.battle.net//d3/en/blog/13154927">Battle.net</a>, via <a target="_blank" href="http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/9/5485670/listen-to-a-teaser-track-from-diablo-3-reaper-of-souls">Polygon</a>]</i></p>Blog Post: Listen To A Sample Music Track From The Upcoming Diablo III: Reaper Of Soulshttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/pc/archive/2014/03/09/listen-to-a-sample-music-track-from-the-upcoming-diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls.aspxSun, 09 Mar 2014 21:42:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6653782Kyle Hilliard<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/blizzard/diabloiii/ps4/diablomusictrack_610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p> <p>Ahead of Blizzard&#39;s planned March 25 release date for its upcoming Diablo III expansion, Reaper of Souls, it has released one of the game&#39;s music tracks.[Excerpt]</p> <p><a target="_blank" href="https://soundcloud.com/playdiablo/diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-1">You can head here to listen to the track now</a>. It&#39;s the music you will hear in the Blood Marsh, a new area you will explore in the the Diablo III expansion later this month. It&#39;s, &quot;An unforgiving mire with an unnatural complexion,&quot; <a target="_blank" href="http://us.battle.net//d3/en/blog/13154927">according to the post on Battle.net</a> sharing the track.</p> <p>It&#39;s about five minutes long, but even at it&#39;s fairly long length, Blizzard says this is only a small sampling of what to expect. You&#39;ll also find a Q and A with Diablo III&#39;s music director Derek Duke on the <a target="_blank" href="http://us.battle.net//d3/en/blog/13154927">Battle.net post</a>, where he admits to lighting candles and turning down the lights in order to play Diablo.</p> <p>For more on Reaper of Souls, <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/12/19/diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-out-march-25-2014.aspx">head here</a> and <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/themes/blogs/generic/post.aspx?WeblogApp=playstation4&amp;y=2013&amp;m=11&amp;d=09&amp;WeblogPostName=sony-details-diablo-iii-39-s-ps4-additions-and-reaper-of-souls&amp;GroupKeys=games/diablo_iii/">here</a>. By pre-ordering Reaper of Souls, <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/02/24/score-some-loot-when-you-pre_2d00_order-diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls.aspx">you will get some extra loot</a>, and there are opportunities to <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/03/04/diablo-iii-players-get-xp-boost-ahead-of-reaper-of-souls-release.aspx">get some extra experience</a> ahead of the expansion&#39;s release, as well.</p> <p><i>[Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://us.battle.net//d3/en/blog/13154927">Battle.net</a>, via <a target="_blank" href="http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/9/5485670/listen-to-a-teaser-track-from-diablo-3-reaper-of-souls">Polygon</a>]</i></p>Blog Post: Waging A Holy Campaign Across Blizzard's Betahttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/playstation4/archive/2014/01/30/waging-a-holy-campaign-across-blizzards-beta.aspxThu, 30 Jan 2014 21:30:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6541057Ben Reeves<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/blizzard/diabloiii/reaper-of-souls/crusader610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p> <p>After sending Diablo screaming and clawing his way back into his cage, I didn&rsquo;t find many reasons to pull Diablo III back off my shelf last year. However, Diablo III&rsquo;s expansion, Reaper of Souls, looks to provide plenty of reasons to jump back into the fray. Malthael, the Angel of Death, has stolen the Black Soulstone and started to threaten humanity&rsquo;s existence. I jumped into the game&rsquo;s beta to cut down his army of reapers, but quickly fell in love with the expansion&rsquo;s new character class. [Excerpt]</p> <p>I spent a lot of time with the Mage and the Monk in Diablo III, but Reaper of Souls introduces a new class called the Crusader. I usually don&rsquo;t care for holy warriors, but this shield-bearing soldier isn&rsquo;t a holy water tossing wimp. Similar to the Paladin from Diablo II, these zealots are a blend of close combat and ranged attacks. Crusaders build &ldquo;wrath&rdquo; as they attack enemies, and this resource can be used for an array of screen-clearing attacks. Shield Bash is one of the character&rsquo;s early moves, which I relied on heavily. This attack is great for closing the distance between enemies and can be augmented early to create a shotgun-like burst when the Crusader&rsquo;s shield connects with an enemy&rsquo;s skull. </p> <p>The Fist of the Heavens is another move I fell in love with. This area attack lets the Crusader call down a pillar of lightning from the sky that dissipates across the ground, shocking anyone that stands too close to the target.&nbsp; </p> <p>The Crusader can handle himself in close quarters as well. His Heavenly Strength ability allows him to equip a two-handed weapon in one hand as long has he&rsquo;s using a shield in the other, depleting only a small portion of his overall speed. When situations got a little too dicey, I used the Steed Charge, which made the Crusader invincibile for a few seconds while a mystical horse helped him charge to a safe distance. </p> <p>I didn&rsquo;t have time during the beta to reach the end-game content, such as the raid-like Nephalem Rifts, but if Reaper of Souls&rsquo; post-credits content is as fun as its opening hours, then I suspect I&rsquo;ll have plenty of reasons to keep this expansion installed on my hard drive when it releases sometime later this year.</p> <p>See how the game&#39;s looking in the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/pc/archive/2013/11/08/diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-trailer-shows-off-new-features.aspx">latest trailer</a>. </p> Blog Post: Waging A Holy Campaign Across Blizzard's Betahttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/pc/archive/2014/01/30/waging-a-holy-campaign-across-blizzards-beta.aspxThu, 30 Jan 2014 21:30:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6541056Ben Reeves<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/blizzard/diabloiii/reaper-of-souls/crusader610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p> <p>After sending Diablo screaming and clawing his way back into his cage, I didn&rsquo;t find many reasons to pull Diablo III back off my shelf last year. However, Diablo III&rsquo;s expansion, Reaper of Souls, looks to provide plenty of reasons to jump back into the fray. Malthael, the Angel of Death, has stolen the Black Soulstone and started to threaten humanity&rsquo;s existence. I jumped into the game&rsquo;s beta to cut down his army of reapers, but quickly fell in love with the expansion&rsquo;s new character class. [Excerpt]</p> <p>I spent a lot of time with the Mage and the Monk in Diablo III, but Reaper of Souls introduces a new class called the Crusader. I usually don&rsquo;t care for holy warriors, but this shield-bearing soldier isn&rsquo;t a holy water tossing wimp. Similar to the Paladin from Diablo II, these zealots are a blend of close combat and ranged attacks. Crusaders build &ldquo;wrath&rdquo; as they attack enemies, and this resource can be used for an array of screen-clearing attacks. Shield Bash is one of the character&rsquo;s early moves, which I relied on heavily. This attack is great for closing the distance between enemies and can be augmented early to create a shotgun-like burst when the Crusader&rsquo;s shield connects with an enemy&rsquo;s skull. </p> <p>The Fist of the Heavens is another move I fell in love with. This area attack lets the Crusader call down a pillar of lightning from the sky that dissipates across the ground, shocking anyone that stands too close to the target.&nbsp; </p> <p>The Crusader can handle himself in close quarters as well. His Heavenly Strength ability allows him to equip a two-handed weapon in one hand as long has he&rsquo;s using a shield in the other, depleting only a small portion of his overall speed. When situations got a little too dicey, I used the Steed Charge, which made the Crusader invincibile for a few seconds while a mystical horse helped him charge to a safe distance. </p> <p>I didn&rsquo;t have time during the beta to reach the end-game content, such as the raid-like Nephalem Rifts, but if Reaper of Souls&rsquo; post-credits content is as fun as its opening hours, then I suspect I&rsquo;ll have plenty of reasons to keep this expansion installed on my hard drive when it releases sometime later this year.</p> <p>See how the game&#39;s looking in the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/pc/archive/2013/11/08/diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-trailer-shows-off-new-features.aspx">latest trailer</a>. </p> File: Waging A Holy Campaign Across Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’s Betahttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/m/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls_media/6541084.aspxWed, 22 Jan 2014 23:16:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6541084Ben ReevesMalthael, the Angel of Death, has stolen the Black Soulstone and started to threaten humanity’s existence, so I jumped into the Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’ beta to cut down his army of reapers, but quickly fell in love with the expansion’s new character class. File: Waging A Holy Campaign Across Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’s Betahttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/m/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls_media/6541082.aspxWed, 22 Jan 2014 23:16:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6541082Ben ReevesMalthael, the Angel of Death, has stolen the Black Soulstone and started to threaten humanity’s existence, so I jumped into the Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’ beta to cut down his army of reapers, but quickly fell in love with the expansion’s new character class. File: Waging A Holy Campaign Across Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’s Betahttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/m/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls_media/6541081.aspxWed, 22 Jan 2014 23:15:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6541081Ben ReevesMalthael, the Angel of Death, has stolen the Black Soulstone and started to threaten humanity’s existence, so I jumped into the Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’ beta to cut down his army of reapers, but quickly fell in love with the expansion’s new character class. File: Waging A Holy Campaign Across Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’s Betahttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/m/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls_media/6541077.aspxWed, 22 Jan 2014 23:15:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6541077Ben ReevesMalthael, the Angel of Death, has stolen the Black Soulstone and started to threaten humanity’s existence, so I jumped into the Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’ beta to cut down his army of reapers, but quickly fell in love with the expansion’s new character class. File: Waging A Holy Campaign Across Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’s Betahttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/m/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls_media/6541075.aspxWed, 22 Jan 2014 23:15:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6541075Ben ReevesMalthael, the Angel of Death, has stolen the Black Soulstone and started to threaten humanity’s existence, so I jumped into the Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’ beta to cut down his army of reapers, but quickly fell in love with the expansion’s new character class. File: Waging A Holy Campaign Across Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’s Betahttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/m/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls_media/6541074.aspxWed, 22 Jan 2014 23:15:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6541074Ben ReevesMalthael, the Angel of Death, has stolen the Black Soulstone and started to threaten humanity’s existence, so I jumped into the Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls’ beta to cut down his army of reapers, but quickly fell in love with the expansion’s new character class. Blog Post: Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls Trailer Shows Off New Featureshttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/pc/archive/2013/11/08/diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-trailer-shows-off-new-features.aspxFri, 08 Nov 2013 20:31:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6394659Mike Futter<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/blizzard/blizzcon/2013/ReaperofSoulsBlizzCon-610.jpg" border="0" style="max-width:610px;" alt="" /></p> <p>Diablo III&rsquo;s first major expansion has a brand new trailer. In addition to the new Crusader class and the revisions to the paragon system <a href="https://www.gameinformer.com:443/b/news/archive/2013/08/23/diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-expansion-boosts-end-game-experience.aspx">we discussed with the team at Gamescom</a>, there are a host of new features.[Excerpt]</p> <p>Players will be able to take on new bounties to kill specific monsters in a region. Additionally, players will be able to enter Nephalem Rifts (which may be the &ldquo;loot runs&rdquo; that we heard about at Gamescom). There are also clans and group functionality that will be added so players can group up more easily. &nbsp;</p> <p>You can check out the trailer below. Reaper of Souls will be out in 2014.</p> <p>[View:2816684568001]</p>Blog Post: Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls Trailer Shows Off New Featureshttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/playstation4/archive/2013/11/08/diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-trailer-shows-off-new-features.aspxFri, 08 Nov 2013 20:31:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6394658Mike Futter<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/blizzard/blizzcon/2013/ReaperofSoulsBlizzCon-610.jpg" border="0" style="max-width:610px;" alt="" /></p> <p>Diablo III&rsquo;s first major expansion has a brand new trailer. In addition to the new Crusader class and the revisions to the paragon system <a href="https://www.gameinformer.com:443/b/news/archive/2013/08/23/diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-expansion-boosts-end-game-experience.aspx">we discussed with the team at Gamescom</a>, there are a host of new features.[Excerpt]</p> <p>Players will be able to take on new bounties to kill specific monsters in a region. Additionally, players will be able to enter Nephalem Rifts (which may be the &ldquo;loot runs&rdquo; that we heard about at Gamescom). There are also clans and group functionality that will be added so players can group up more easily. &nbsp;</p> <p>You can check out the trailer below. Reaper of Souls will be out in 2014.</p> <p>[View:2816684568001]</p>Blog: Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition - PlayStation 4http://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/b/playstation4/default.aspxFri, 08 Nov 2013 19:10:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:120591AnonymousForum: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Discussionshttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/diablo_iii_reaper_of_souls/f/120587.aspxFri, 08 Nov 2013 19:09:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:120587Anonymous